The Elixir of Doom
The Elixir of Doom, H. 12,'' ''is a 2012 short film/featurette directed by Ryan Alexander Huang, with cinematography by the Mulet Brothers. It was created as a direct homage to the The Artist, ''with multiple references made to the 2011 French film. The story introduces several iconic characters produced by Flaming Gnome Studios such as Viktor Boroshlav (Huang), Emmanuelle Chanson (Gleason), Jean Montresor (Dub), and Emile De Grave (Chatelaine). Plot In the late 1920's, ex-government agent Viktor Boroshlav follows a recent crime wave in Europe. Self-made crime lord Jean Montresor and his henchman Emile De Grave are suspected to be heavily involved in the black market dealings at the center of the crime wave. Boroshlav delves into the case while coming to terms with the fact that his former partner Emmanuelle Chanson has defected to Montresor's side. Boroshlav discovers that Montresor's chief enterprise is selling "Amontillado," rocket fuel under the guise of wine. The Amontillado is then sold in bulk to local anarchist organizations. After multiple skirmishes with Montresor and De Grave, Boroshlav is lured into a trap after Montresor uses Chanson as bait. As Montresor and De Grave reveal to Boroshlav, Chanson joined Montresor as part of an elaborate ruse to destroy the crime lord's operation from the inside. Montresor now plans to kill both agents and eliminate his only opposition. De Grave is left to deal with Boroshlav alone, but the agent overpowers him and rescues Chanson from her cell. After reconciling, the pair prepares to leave Montresor's estate. Before they can escape, Montresor emerges and wounds Chanson with his pistol. Boroshlav fires at a crate of Amontillado sitting next to Montresor; the resulting explosion engulfs Montresor and his buildings as Boroshlav and Chanson make their getaway. In a post-credits scene, Montresor's seemingly lifeless hand is seen lying on the ground next to the bottles. His fist suddenly clenches before the scene cuts to black. Cast *Ryan Huang as Viktor Boroshlav *Maureen Gleason as Emmanuelle Chanson *Joshua Dub as Jean Montresor *D.J. Chatelaine as Emile De Grave *Miles Mulet as Anarchist #1 * Ryan Huang as Anarchist #2 Crew * Directed by Ryan Huang * Written by Ryan Huang * Cinematography by: Michael and Miles Mulet * Edited by Ryan Huang Production In July of 2012, Director Ryan Huang was inspired to create a short black and white film after viewing the 2011 silent film ''The Artist. ''As Huang would be travelling overseas that August, he was pressed for time to complete the entire filming process. The script was written in around 6 days, and filming was completed throughout the following week. Editing took Huang another 7 days. The world premiere took place at the Owatonna Arts Center, a filming location used in ''The Elixir of Doom ''as well its sequel two years later. The world premiere of ''Elixir ''was preceded by a screening of ''The Artist. '' References to other works ''Elixir incorporates several homages to The Artist, ''in some cases directly borrowing scenes and shots from the film. * The opening credits are set to ''The Artist Ouverture ''and are presented in a similar format. * Boroshlav's flashback to the ballroom in which he dances with Chanson is a direct parody of the ''A German Affair ''filming scene from ''The Artist. ''The same music ("Waltz for Peppy") is heard in the background. * Multiple scenes taking place in Montresor's dungeon have similar counterparts in ''The Artist, ''most notably the interrogation of Boroshlav and the rescue of Chanson. Both scenes share thematic elements from George Valentin's ''A Russian Affair. '' Nearly the entire film is set to the original score of ''The Artist. ''Other pieces featured include Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition ''(later to be used again in ''The Root of Evil) and Sibelius's 2nd Symphony. The movie also makes numerous references to Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Cask of Amontillado. ''Montresor's name is taken from that of Poe's narrator, while De Grave is named after a wine featured in the story. Most notably, the titular ''Elixir ''in the movie is known colloquially as "Amontillado" by the characters. Segments of ''The Elixir of Doom ''are seen in flashback form in ''The Root of Evil. Sequel In the summer of 2014, The Root of Evil ''was released as a full-length sequel to ''Elixir ''after nearly two years of production. ''The film has received critical acclaim at film festivals across the United States, with a current total of 10 awards to its name. A sequel to ''The Root of Evil ''is in development as a novella. Archival status It was discovered in 2017 that the main digital copy of ''The Elixir of Doom ''had become corrupted, with the first three minutes of the film rendered unplayable. In February 2018, the film was fully restored using a complete version of the film with cast commentary as a reference. Category:Films